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| Mirsee MH3 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Manufacturer | Mirsee Robotics |
| Type | Industrial teleoperated humanoid robot |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Year introduced | 2025 (third generation) |
| Founders | Tarek Rahim, Robert Ings |
| Status | Pre-production; mass production planned for 2027 |
| Price | ~$200,000 USD |
| Locomotion | Wheeled (Mecanum omnidirectional) |
| AI control | ROS 2 + NVIDIA compute |
| Website | mirsee.com |
The Mirsee MH3 is a third-generation teleoperated humanoid robot developed by Mirsee Robotics, a Canadian robotics company headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario. Designed to extend skilled human labor into hazardous, remote, and physically demanding environments, the MH3 combines immersive virtual reality teleoperation with AI-enhanced autonomy. The robot stands 180 cm tall, weighs 125 kg, and features 31 degrees of freedom, including 6-DOF five-fingered hands capable of manipulating standard human tools. Its wheeled omnidirectional base, 30 kg per-arm payload capacity, and 10-hour battery runtime distinguish it from many bipedal humanoids that prioritize walking agility over industrial endurance.[1][2]
Mirsee Robotics was founded in 2017 by Tarek Rahim and Robert Ings. Since then, the company has designed and assembled three generations of humanoid robots entirely in-house in Ontario. The MH3, introduced in 2025, incorporates proprietary technologies including the patented M-Drive hydrostatic actuator, the Hadron stereo vision system, and a custom hot-swappable battery architecture. The company has secured investment from Eclipse Automation, Redstick Ventures, and the Archangel Network of Funds. It has also received a $500,000 grant from Canada's Department of National Defence through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program.[3][4][5]
As of early 2026, Mirsee operates two MH3 units and plans to build six more during the year, with mass production targeted for 2027 in partnership with Eclipse Automation. The company aims to double its workforce to approximately 20 employees as it scales toward commercial deployment.[6]
Mirsee Robotics was founded in 2017 in Cambridge, Ontario, by Tarek Rahim and Robert Ings. Rahim, who serves as CEO, is a mechanical design engineer who has led the development of over 1,000 robotic subcomponents during his career, with particular expertise in creating human-like dexterity in mechanical systems. Ings, the co-founder and lead electronics designer, is the primary inventor behind Mirsee's patented hybrid hydrostatic actuator and brings experience from commercializing complex hardware in the aerospace and naval sectors.[4][7]
Rahim has noted that when the company launched, humanoid robotics "was not a glamorous industry" and few observers anticipated the degree to which artificial intelligence would develop reasoning capabilities in subsequent years. The founders chose Cambridge in part because of its proximity to the broader Kitchener-Waterloo technology corridor, a region that has become an emerging hub for Canadian robotics and automation firms.[6]
Mirsee's stated mission is to close labor gaps, improve workplace safety, and increase throughput for manufacturing partners globally. Rather than building fully autonomous general-purpose robots, the company takes a teleoperation-first approach: skilled human technicians "embody" the robot remotely through VR headsets and haptic controllers, performing complex manual tasks with high dexterity and touch feedback. This model allows the MH3 to handle jobs described as "dirty, dangerous, or dull" without requiring the robot to possess full autonomy for every task.[1][4]
The company's roadmap envisions a progression from full teleoperation toward semi-autonomous and eventually fully autonomous operation, with machine learning models improving performance over time as operational data accumulates.[4]
A defining characteristic of Mirsee is its high degree of vertical integration. The company designs and manufactures nearly all major subsystems in-house at its Cambridge facility, including robotic hands, vision systems, actuators, motor controllers, battery packs, and software. All major components for the MH3, including the batteries, are built by the team in Ontario. This approach reduces supply chain dependencies and allows rapid iteration across the full technology stack.[1][6]
Mirsee has developed three generations of humanoid robots since 2017, each building on the lessons of its predecessor.
| Generation | Year | Runtime | DOF | Key developments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MH1 | 2021 | 6 hours | 28 | First-generation prototype; remote teleoperation only; limited payload and reach |
| MH2 | 2023 | 8 hours | 24 | Hot-swappable batteries; longer arm reach; higher payload capacity; omnidirectional mobility |
| MH3 | 2025 | 10 hours | 31 | Wireless charging; best-in-class hands and arms; AI + teleoperation hybrid control; highest payload capacity; IP54 protection |
The MH1 was Mirsee's first-generation humanoid, introduced in 2021. It served primarily as a research and development platform, featuring 28 degrees of freedom and a 6-hour battery life. While it demonstrated the feasibility of teleoperated humanoid work, the MH1 had limited payload capacity and arm reach, restricting its practical utility. It operated exclusively through remote teleoperation with no autonomous capabilities.[1]
The second generation, introduced in 2023, brought significant improvements. The MH2 featured 24 degrees of freedom (a reduction from MH1, reflecting a focus on optimizing the most useful joint configurations), an 8-hour runtime with hot-swappable batteries, and substantially improved arm reach and payload capacity. It introduced the omnidirectional mobile base that would carry forward into the MH3. Like its predecessor, the MH2 was limited to remote teleoperation without AI-assisted control.[1]
The MH3 represents the most significant leap in Mirsee's product line. With 31 degrees of freedom, a 10-hour runtime, wireless charging capability, and a hybrid teleoperation/AI control architecture, it is the first Mirsee humanoid designed for commercial deployment rather than purely research purposes. The MH3's hands are described by the company as "best in class," and its omnidirectional mobile base achieves the highest payload capacity across all Mirsee models. Safety features include power-off brakes and inherent stability from the wheeled platform design.[1][2]
| Category | Specification | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Physical | Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| Physical | Weight (with battery) | 125 kg (276 lb) |
| Physical | Structural material | Aluminum 6061 |
| Physical | Ingress protection | IP54 |
| Mobility | Locomotion type | Wheeled (Mecanum omnidirectional) |
| Mobility | Maximum walking speed | 1.4 m/s (5.0 km/h; 3.1 mph) |
| Mobility | Mobile base payload capacity | >300 kg |
| Manipulation | Total degrees of freedom | 31 |
| Manipulation | DOF per hand | 6 |
| Manipulation | Fingers per hand | 5 |
| Manipulation | Arm payload | 30 kg per arm |
| Manipulation | Combined arm force | ~27 kg (60 lb) across both arms |
| Power | Battery life | 10 hours |
| Power | Charging | Wireless charging; hot-swappable modular batteries |
| Computing | Compute platform | NVIDIA Jetson |
| Computing | Operating system | ROS 2 |
| Computing | LLM integration | Yes |
| Computing | Visual-to-action latency | <100 ms |
| Sensors | Camera resolution | 4000 x 3000 (12 MP) |
| Sensors | Vision system | Hadron (stereo vision) |
| Actuators | Primary type | BLDC (brushless DC) |
| Actuators | Gear technology | Harmonic and planetary |
| Actuators | Specialty actuator | M-Drive (patented hydrostatic) |
| Connectivity | Interfaces | Wi-Fi, cellular, satellite |
| Connectivity | ROS compatible | Yes |
| Safety | Braking | Power-off brakes |
| Safety | Stability | Inherent (wheeled base; low center of gravity) |
| Autonomy | Level | Level 1 (basic assistance / teleoperation with AI augmentation) |
Unlike many competing humanoid robots that use bipedal locomotion, the MH3 moves on a wheeled omnidirectional base called the Advanced Mobile Platform (AMP). The AMP uses Mecanum wheels to deliver holonomic motion, allowing the robot to travel in any direction regardless of its orientation. This includes lateral strafing and rotation around its center axis, movements that are difficult or impossible for bipedal robots to perform efficiently.[8]
The design choice to use wheels rather than legs was deliberate and reflects Mirsee's industrial focus. CEO Tarek Rahim has explained that a wheeled platform provides superior battery life (since walking consumes significant energy), greater inherent stability (making the robot much harder to knock over), and a higher payload capacity for the mobile base (exceeding 300 kg). For the factory floors, warehouses, and industrial facilities where the MH3 is intended to operate, these practical advantages outweigh the terrain flexibility that bipedal locomotion would provide.[6][8]
The AMP also features integrated suspension for managing complex movements under load, making it suitable for environments where the robot must carry heavy tools or materials while navigating tight spaces.[8]
The MH3's upper body is built around a dual-arm system with five-fingered hands, each offering 6 degrees of freedom. The arms can each handle payloads of up to 30 kg, with a combined force capacity of approximately 27 kg (60 lb) across both arms. This level of strength significantly exceeds that of many general-purpose humanoids and enables the MH3 to use standard human tools, including wrenches, valve handles, and testing equipment.[2][3]
The hands are designed for dexterous manipulation of objects found in industrial settings. Mirsee describes them as "best in class" within their product line, reflecting iterative improvements across three robot generations. The combination of force capacity and finger dexterity allows the MH3 to perform tasks such as turning valves, operating switches, handling heavy materials, and conducting laboratory tests.[1]
One of Mirsee's most distinctive technologies is the M-Drive, a patented hybrid hydrostatic rotary actuator invented by co-founder Robert Ings. The M-Drive was granted U.S. Patent No. 10,895,271 B2, filed on March 11, 2019, and issued on January 19, 2021, with Mirsee Robotics Inc. as the assignee.[9]
The M-Drive features a curved piston with an arced rolling diaphragm that converts hydraulic or pneumatic pressure into smooth, high-speed rotary motion. Key properties of the design include:
The M-Drive is central to Mirsee's teleoperation experience because its low-impedance characteristics allow operators to receive precise force feedback through their VR controllers. When a technician controlling the MH3 picks up an object or turns a valve, the resistance they feel through their haptic interface closely mirrors the forces the robot is experiencing.[4][10]
The MH3 uses the Hadron Vision System, Mirsee's proprietary embedded stereo vision platform. Hadron combines an NVIDIA Jetson processor with custom-designed stereo cameras and a purpose-built motherboard to deliver high-performance visual processing with low power consumption. The system provides 12-megapixel (4000 x 3000) resolution imaging, enabling detailed environmental perception for both teleoperation and AI-driven tasks.[8][10]
Mirsee positions Hadron as its first commercial venture into the embedded vision market, noting that the system's combination of performance and energy efficiency makes it suitable not only for the MH3 but also as a standalone product for broader robotics and AI research applications.[10]
The MH3 operates on a custom modular battery architecture developed in-house. The system is designed with hot-swappable battery modules, allowing field replacement without shutting down the robot, and supports wireless charging for continuous operation scenarios. Multiple layers of safety protection and a rigid enclosure are built into each battery module. The scalable architecture can be configured for various power and current output requirements depending on the deployment scenario.[1][10]
The 10-hour runtime represents a significant improvement over the MH1's 6-hour and MH2's 8-hour runtimes, and exceeds the operational endurance of many competing humanoid platforms. Mirsee attributes part of this advantage to the energy efficiency of the wheeled mobility platform compared to bipedal walking systems.[1][6]
The MH3 runs on ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2), the industry-standard middleware for robotics development. Its primary compute platform is based on NVIDIA Jetson processors, providing GPU-accelerated inference for perception, navigation, and task planning. The system achieves a visual-to-action latency of under 100 milliseconds, which is critical for responsive teleoperation.[2][3]
The robot supports large language model integration, enabling voice command functionality that the team has been actively developing. This would allow operators or supervisors to issue verbal instructions to the MH3, supplementing the VR teleoperation interface with natural language interaction.[6]
The MH3's primary operating mode is immersive VR teleoperation. Mirsee's control software enables any mainstream VR headset system to serve as the robot control interface. When a human operator dons a VR headset and haptic controllers, they see through the robot's stereo cameras and control its movements in real time. The operator's hand and arm motions are mapped to the robot's manipulators, while haptic feedback conveys the forces and textures the robot encounters.[4][10]
This teleoperation approach allows a single skilled technician to operate the MH3 from anywhere with a network connection. The robot's multi-band connectivity (Wi-Fi, cellular, and satellite) ensures that it can be controlled even in remote locations lacking traditional internet infrastructure. Mirsee describes this capability as effectively "teleporting" skilled workers to job sites without requiring physical travel.[4]
The MH3 supports three connectivity modes. Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) serves as the primary interface for facility-based operations. Cellular connectivity provides coverage in areas with mobile network access. Satellite connectivity extends the robot's operational range to the most remote environments, including offshore platforms, remote mining sites, and isolated communities. This multi-layered connectivity architecture ensures that the MH3 can maintain a reliable teleoperation link under diverse conditions.[2][3]
While the MH3 currently operates primarily through teleoperation, Mirsee's technology roadmap envisions a gradual transition toward autonomous operation. The company classifies the MH3 at Autonomy Level 1 (basic assistance and automated functions), but the integration of AI through the NVIDIA compute platform and ROS 2 framework provides the infrastructure for increasing autonomy over time.[3][4]
The progression path follows a teleoperation-to-autonomy model: as the robot accumulates operational data through teleoperated sessions, machine learning algorithms can identify repetitive tasks and subtasks suitable for automation. Over time, the operator's role would shift from direct control to supervisory oversight, with the robot handling routine operations independently and requesting human input only for novel or complex situations.[4]
One of Mirsee's most notable early deployments has been a pilot program in water treatment for First Nations communities in Canada. Many of these communities face chronic boil water advisories and struggle to recruit certified water treatment operators willing to work in remote locations. After securing the $500,000 IDEaS grant from Canada's Department of National Defence, Mirsee launched a pilot that uses the MH3 to allow certified water treatment operators to remotely perform their duties, including daily water testing, equipment maintenance, and quality verification, at plants in distant communities without needing to be physically present.[4][5]
The pilot demonstrated that a single skilled operator could potentially manage multiple water treatment plants from a central location, addressing the chronic staffing shortages that contribute to unsafe drinking water conditions in remote Indigenous communities. This use case exemplifies Mirsee's focus on extending human expertise to locations where physical presence is impractical or dangerous.[4]
Mirsee targets deployment in sectors characterized by hazardous working conditions and skilled labor shortages. Nuclear energy facilities, electrical substations, and oil and gas installations represent key markets where the MH3's combination of dexterous manipulation, IP54 environmental protection, and remote operability provides significant value. In these environments, the robot can perform inspection, maintenance, and testing tasks that would otherwise require human workers to enter dangerous zones involving radiation, high voltage, or toxic chemicals.[1][4]
The MH3 is designed for industrial environments including manufacturing assembly lines and logistics operations. Demonstrated capabilities include end-of-line factory work, pick-and-place operations, item sorting, and heavy material handling. The robot's 30 kg per-arm payload and omnidirectional mobility make it suitable for moving components and finished goods within factory settings.[2][11]
The Department of National Defence's IDEaS grant specifically funds the development of high-immersion, teleoperated robots for hazardous tasks relevant to the Canadian Armed Forces. Through the Robot Round-up program, DND seeks solutions where advances in robotic platforms and methods of control can help military personnel accomplish high-risk tasks without direct exposure to danger. Mirsee's MH3, with its combination of teleoperation, environmental ruggedness, and dexterous manipulation, aligns with these requirements.[5][12]
In March 2026, Eclipse Automation, one of Canada's leading automation engineering firms, announced a strategic investment in Mirsee Robotics as part of its 25th anniversary expansion. The partnership has two dimensions: Eclipse provides engineering and deployment expertise to help accelerate the development and integration of Mirsee's humanoid systems, while the companies work together to identify real-world use cases and advance the technology toward cost-effective production deployment. Eclipse's manufacturing capabilities are expected to play a central role as Mirsee transitions from hand-built pre-production units to mass manufacturing.[13][14]
Redstick Ventures, a venture capital firm, invested in Mirsee after identifying several compelling factors: the severity of the skilled labor shortage in industrial sectors, Mirsee's proprietary technology stack (particularly the patented hydrostatic actuators), early commercial traction through the water treatment pilot, and the founding team's exceptional capital efficiency in achieving significant progress with minimal funding.[4]
The Archangel Network of Funds, an angel investment network, has also invested in Mirsee Robotics. Their portfolio inclusion provides the company with both capital and access to the network's community of technology investors and advisors.[15]
Mirsee has received support from multiple Canadian government entities. The $500,000 IDEaS grant from the Department of National Defence is the most publicly documented. The company's website also lists Canada's National Research Council and the XPRIZE Foundation among organizations that have supported its work.[1][5][12]
Mirsee Robotics has collaborated with researchers at Stanford University to develop MRI-safe surgical robots. The project utilizes Mirsee's patented M-Drive hydrostatic actuator, which can be constructed entirely from plastic, making it uniquely suited for operation inside magnetic resonance imaging scanners where traditional electric motors cannot function due to electromagnetic interference.[10]
The collaboration produced a 7-DOF (seven degrees of freedom) low-friction hydrostatic teleoperator designed to extend surgical reach inside the confined space of an MRI bore. The work was published in the IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics. In 2022, the paper titled "Extending Reach Inside the MRI Bore: A 7-DOF, Low-Friction, Hydrostatic Teleoperator," authored by Samuel Frishman, Robert D. Ings, Vipul Sheth, Bruce L. Daniel, and Mark R. Cutkosky, received the IEEE T-MRB Best Paper Award. This recognition validated the clinical relevance and engineering innovation of Mirsee's actuator technology in a domain far removed from industrial humanoids but closely related in its core mechanical principles.[10][16]
Mirsee operates within a growing Canadian robotics sector that includes several notable companies pursuing different segments of the humanoid and collaborative robotics market.
| Company | Location | Robot | Focus area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirsee Robotics | Cambridge, ON | MH3 | Industrial teleoperation; hazardous environments |
| Sanctuary AI | Vancouver, BC | Phoenix | General-purpose autonomy; retail and logistics |
| Kinova | Montreal, QC | Gen2, Link 6 | Collaborative robot arms; medical and research |
| Clearpath Robotics | Kitchener, ON | Various | Autonomous mobile robots; research platforms |
Sanctuary AI, headquartered in Vancouver, represents the most directly comparable Canadian company. While both companies build humanoid robots, they take substantially different approaches. Sanctuary focuses on general-purpose cognitive AI (its Carbon system) and highly dexterous hydraulic hands for tasks like retail work, aiming to build robots that reason and adapt across diverse environments. Mirsee focuses on teleoperation as the primary control modality, targeting specifically hazardous and remote industrial environments where extending human expertise is more immediately practical than achieving full autonomy.[6][17]
The Ontario region where Mirsee is based has been developing into a robotics cluster. Eclipse Automation, Mirsee's strategic partner, is also headquartered in the Cambridge/Kitchener-Waterloo area. Toyota Canada announced deployments of Agility Robotics' Digit robots at its Woodstock, Ontario, facility in early 2026, further highlighting the region's growing significance in the North American robotics landscape.[6][14]
CEO Tarek Rahim has been vocal about the competitive dynamics of the global humanoid robotics market, acknowledging that Chinese companies, particularly Unitree Robotics, are "far ahead of Western competitors" in certain areas and advocating for greater federal government support for the Canadian robotics sector. Rahim has predicted that the robotics revolution will be "bigger than the automotive revolution in the early 20th century, happening at ten times the speed," and that there will eventually be "more robots than cars."[6]
The MH3 occupies a distinctive niche in the global humanoid robot market. While many high-profile competitors focus on bipedal locomotion and general-purpose AI autonomy, Mirsee's combination of wheeled mobility, teleoperation-first design, and industrial ruggedness targets a different set of use cases.
| Company | Robot | Locomotion | Primary control | Arm payload | Battery life | Approx. price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mirsee Robotics | MH3 | Wheeled (Mecanum) | Teleoperation + AI | 30 kg/arm | 10 hours | ~$200,000 |
| Sanctuary AI | Phoenix | Wheeled (Gen 8) | AI (Carbon) + teleoperation | 25 kg | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Tesla | Optimus | Bipedal | Autonomous | ~10 kg (est.) | ~5 hours (est.) | Target $20,000-$30,000 |
| Figure AI | Figure 02 | Bipedal | AI (OpenAI) | ~20 kg | ~5 hours | Not disclosed |
| Apptronik | Apollo | Bipedal | Autonomous + teleoperation | 25 kg | 4 hours | Not disclosed |
| Unitree | G1 | Bipedal | Autonomous | ~3 kg | ~2 hours | ~$16,000 |
The MH3's key competitive advantages include its 10-hour battery life (among the longest in the humanoid robot market), its 30 kg per-arm payload (significantly higher than most competitors), its IP54 environmental protection rating, and its multi-band connectivity including satellite. These attributes make it particularly well-suited for industrial and remote-deployment scenarios where endurance, strength, and connectivity matter more than autonomous walking ability.[2][3]
However, Mirsee faces significant challenges. The company is substantially smaller than many competitors, with plans to reach only 20 employees. Its approximately $200,000 price point, while defensible for specialized industrial applications, is orders of magnitude above Tesla's target pricing for Optimus. And the teleoperation-first model, while pragmatic, means each deployed MH3 still requires a human operator, limiting the scalability advantages that fully autonomous competitors aim to achieve.[6]
Mirsee Robotics has outlined an ambitious growth trajectory. The company plans to build six additional MH3 units during 2026, bringing its total fleet to eight robots. By 2027, it aims to transition to mass production, leveraging the manufacturing partnership with Eclipse Automation to scale beyond hand-built production.[6][14]
The company is also developing voice command and AI response capabilities, which would allow operators or supervisors to interact with the MH3 through natural language processing in addition to VR teleoperation. This represents a step toward the semi-autonomous operational model on the company's technology roadmap.[6]
Rahim expects humanoid robots to be deployed in warehouses and manufacturing facilities by 2027. Within the following three to five years, he anticipates adoption will expand into commercial environments. The company is selectively considering additional partnership opportunities beginning in mid-2026.[1][6]